


Vanity

by varooooom



Series: Random Word Prompts [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-22
Updated: 2012-07-22
Packaged: 2017-11-10 11:30:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/465783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/varooooom/pseuds/varooooom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur gets his first Pendragon cloak at the age of eight. He's never been more proud in all his years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Prince

**Author's Note:**

> This spawned from a meme that was one random word for one random piece of headcanon. The word for this one was "cloak." There'll be more to come eventually, and they're all super fluffy drabbles purely made for the sake of baaaaws.

Arthur's eyes gloss over in wonder the instance the Court seamstress sets the box before him and lifts it up to present his very first cloak to him. It's a deep, familiar red; the same colour as the curtains of his canopy and five of his tunics and, far more importantly, his father's cloak. Far, _far_ more importantly: it is _exactly_ the same as his father's cloak.

He reaches out a shaky hand to trace the golden inlay of the Pendragon crest, the dragon's wings spread and tongue out in a bold proclamation of power. He's seen it thousands of times over, every single day, but this is different. This is closer. This is _his_. And when she turns him around to fasten it about his shoulders, he can feel that very same power thrumming through his veins with the blood of his father.

At eight years old, Arthur Pendragon feels every bit Camelot's Prince for the very first time. 

He squares his shoulders and puffs out his chest, the same way his father does, and walks proudly about the castle with the flow of fine red fabric billowing behind him. He carries his dull, wooden sword at his belt, tucked awkwardly into the leather with his hand tightly gripping the pommel as he walks. He attends all of his lessons and listens to every audience held with the King. He trains harder and harder every day, all the while growing accustomed to the new weight of the long cloak at his shoulders.

He falls asleep with it wrapped around him in lieu of his blankets, and orders (read as: begs) his maidservant not to breathe a word of it in the morning. She smiles sweetly and bows deeply with a polite "Of course, my lord" that makes him flush near as red as the cloak.

 _His_ cloak.

His cloak that lasts only a fortnight before it's ruined by his overexcitement. Arthur wears it every single day for those two weeks, and at the end of it, he is near to tears at the sight of it stained a murky brown from a rough fall in his swordsmanship lesson. There are cuts on his hands and bruises along his right side, but the prospect of having ruined the cloak, _his cloak_ that is the Pendragon red and the same as Father's, is the more dire crisis, despite what Gaius's Eyebrow might say.

When Uther orders a new one for him, Arthur runs his hand reverently over the crest only once before tucking it away safely in his wardrobe for Very Important Occasions Only. His maidservant watches with the very same fond smile before bowing again, and Arthur resolutely _does not_ blush before ordering her away.

And if he takes the cloak back out once she's gone, well, there's no one present to say so.


	2. The King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by the lovely Tossino as a compliment to my drabble! ♥

When Uther mapped out Arthur’s learning, he put up milestones. Because he has always liked having something to mark his results and Arthur is a Pendragon and would surely end up doing the same (purely an assumption, really – who can truly know). Because Arthur should have something that he can see and touch to mark his growth as prince.

Uther always follows the milestones and when Arthur is eight and prince enough to wear it, he has the Pendragon cloak tailored for Arthur.

During the day, he doesn’t see much of Arthur but on the day the cloak is finished, he keeps an extra eye out because this is the day Arthur will wear the Pendragon cloak for the first time and he wants to see it. Arthur who has grown up all too slowly along with the passage of time after _her_ , Arthur who is the only light he has left, Arthur who at least makes it worth _something_ and he’ll be walking around with the Pendragon cloak and look taller than ever, Uther knows that for certain.

Arthur is great and bright and when he stands before Uther with his head held high and the red falling off his shoulders, Uther can’t not smile at his boy, his son who will be the greatest Prince and the greatest King of all and this is not a wish. No, this is a fact and as clear as the sky outside and Uther will _make sure_ it happens.

And when Uther sees Arthur with the cloak day after day, constantly, and he knows that it’s because of eagerness and excitement that really is not quite fit for a prince, he does not have the heart to tell Arthur to stop it. It is a rare thing, to see Arthur glowing quite as much and the reason why is a constant ache in Uther’s heart that can only truly be soothed by Arthur alone. This soothes it – not the red of the cloak, not the way it billows with Arthur’s steps, not the way Arthur holds himself like a true prince when he walks, not the way Arthur is so proud of being a Pendragon – but the way Arthur gives off a childish glee that is nothing but that of his son.

Doesn’t belong to the prince so it should be hidden away, not shown on lessons or councils, but Uther cannot find it in him to stop it.

When the cloak is ruined and Arthur is devastated he doesn’t expect Arthur to throw it away, but he says nothing about that either. It’s just a cloak, but at the same time so much more than that and he could never take it from Arthur. Not any of it.

Not from his son, Ygraine’s son, and Uther takes every small memory of Arthur with his new cloak and puts it away far, far back with everything he keeps for the days that are most dark.


End file.
